TunisiaTourismTV – The Great Mosque of Kairouan was founded in 670. It was the first in the Maghreb.
Rebuilt in its present form in 836, it served as a model for the mosques in the Maghreb and Al-Andalus.
The Mosque bears the name of the Arab conqueror Oqba, founder of the town.
The minaret, rising 31.5 metres high, dominates the courtyard. It resembles an ancient lighthouse, such as the famous lighthouse of Alexandria.
A gallery with horseshoe arches separates the courtyard from the prayer hall.
In the prayer hall,
Roman and Byzantine columns fill the entire space.
With its vast courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded portico, its symmetrically structured façade, its prayer hall and cupola, the Great Mosque of Kairouan
is at once both a prestigious sanctuary and a masterpiece of architecture.
Kairouan has been declared
a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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